


Marry Me

by cassie5squared



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Affection, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:32:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7630870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cassie5squared/pseuds/cassie5squared
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emmeline Vance is caught by surprise when her boyfriend, too tired to activate his mental filter, lets the words he's thinking slip out of his mouth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marry Me

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a prompt from the lovely Ellie, who has been my Emmeline muse for a long time now.

_March 1981_

They were curled up on the sofa in Emmeline’s flat, drinking tea quietly and listening to the crackle of the fire. Neither of them was in the mood to talk much; they’d just come off a straight two-day shift trying to contain yet another outbreak of Death Eater violence, and they were exhausted, aching and just about ready to fall asleep where they were.

William shifted a little, winced as his sore muscles protested at the movement, and then smiled at the dark head resting on his shoulder. It never ceased to amaze him, the way Emmeline could seem so fragile and sweet like this and yet so much like an avenging angel when called to battle. He couldn’t imagine ever falling for someone else when he had someone as clever and gentle and fierce and awkward as her.

“Emme?” he murmured.

“Mm?” was the sleepy reply.

“Marry me?”

“Mm.” There was silence for a few seconds, and then she sat up and looked at him properly as the meaning of what he’d said sank in. “ _What_?”

“I said marry me,” he replied, feeling a pang of fright at realising he’d just blurted it out and it was entirely possible he’d just scared her off. “Er. Please?”

She continued to stare at him for several long moments, evidently bewildered, and he felt the need to fill up the increasingly awkward silence. Unfortunately, as usual, this turned into babbling. “I mean… we just got back from fighting for our lives yet _again_ and I was just looking at you and wondering how I got lucky enough to have you as a girlfriend, and I kind of realised how much I want this to last. To be your husband. To spend a _lifetime_ with you. I know it’s not a great time to think about it, but look at Lily and James, they knew it was dangerous but they took the chance anyway, and they’re still holding things together and they’re _happy_ and I can’t help thinking about how much I want that kind of chance with you -”

And then she kissed him.

It was a practically failsafe way to shut him up, they’d discovered, but there was more to it than that in the way she ran her fingers through his hair and held him close, and he slid his free arm around her and kissed her back until they broke apart for air.

“…Was that a yes?” he asked with a weak chuckle, trying to pass it off as a joke as he searched her face for any hint of what she was thinking. A smile on its own could mean anything.

Her eyes glistened in the firelight, and she had to swallow several times before she could speak, but finally she murmured, “It was a yes.”

He felt his own eyes burn with the sudden rush of joy, and blinked rapidly, unable to tear his gaze away from her. “Good,” he said, and then couldn’t help laughing at the ridiculousness of a comment like that. Her laughter joined his, and he hugged her close, leaning his forehead against hers. “I love you.”

“Love you too.”


End file.
